Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Other Transactions

Programs: Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC)

Melody A. Salcedo joined the Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM) within the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC), in October 2022. She serves as an Other Transactions Agreements and Policy Specialist contractor. She earned her Juris Doctorate at St. Thomas University School of Law and her B.A. from State University of New York at Albany. Prior to joining the Common Fund, she worked for The Department of Off-Street Parking of the City of Miami and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in their respective legal and enforcement departments.

Team: Strategic Planning, Evaluation, and Communications (SPEC)

Functional Area: Communication and Outreach; Program Strategic Planning

Programs: All Common Fund Programs

Michelle Schneider joined the NIH Common Fund in December 2023 as the Digital Communications Specialist. She brings over a decade of communications and marketing experience to the organization. Michelle’s educational journey includes a current pursuit of an M.S. in Digital Marketing at Liberty University, complementing her B.A. in Communications from California State University San Marcos and a Business Strategy Certification from Harvard Business School.

Team: Immediate Office of the Director (IMOD)

Functional Area: Legislative Contact; Program Strategic Planning; Science Policy

Programs: All Common Fund Programs

Lorjetta Schools came to the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) in November 2023 as a Health Science Policy Analyst. Prior to joining OSC, Lorjetta spent ~6 months in the Immediate Office of the Director (IMOD) as a Health Science Policy Analyst. Before IMOD, Lorjetta sent five years with the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) as a Scientific Policy Analyst. While there, Lorjetta assisted with the development of “Building a Diverse Genomics Workforce: An NHGRI Action Agenda” and its subsequent Implementation Plan and Progress Report. She also developed a new DEIA Awards program and created funding opportunities targeting diverse scientific communities. Before joining NIH, she worked at various genomic and biotech companies in the area, focusing on rare genetic disorder diagnostics, developing quality control methodology, and advancing medical devices. She received her bachelor’s degree from Morgan State University in Baltimore and received her Master of Business Administration from University of Maryland University College in 2019.

Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Other Transactions

Programs: DPCPSI - Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS); Science and Technology Research Infrastructure for Discovery, Experimentation, and Sustainability (STRIDES)

Zeeshan Shafi rejoined the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) within the Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM) as an Other Transaction Agreements Specialist (OTAS) in September 2023. Before rejoining DOTM, Zeeshan served as a OTAS with the All of Us Research Program. Prior to joining OSC in 2021, he served as an attorney in the private sector. Zeeshan received his Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from the University of Maryland and Juris Doctorate from Barry University School of Law.

Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Other Transactions; Science Policy

Programs: All Common Fund Programs for Other Transaction Activities

Ms. Shariati has 36 years of experience in the Federal Government working on contracts, grants, and other transactions. She has an MBA from the University of Scranton.

Team: Re-Engineering the Biomedical Workforce (RRE)

Functional Area: Program Management

Programs: Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS)

Susan (Sue) Shero joined the Office of Strategic Coordination in October 2023 as a Program Leader within the Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) program. Before coming to OSC, she was a program officer in NHLBI’s Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science where her work focused on systematic evidence review, evidence integration, and implementation research to help accelerate innovation in healthcare delivery for the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders in clinical and community settings. Prior to working at NIH, Ms. Shero provided a range of nursing care in community and clinical settings. She earned a BS in Nursing from George Mason University and MS in Health Management from American University.

Team: Operations Team

Functional Area: Award Management and Tracking; Budget and Reporting; Program Evaluation and Analysis

Programs: Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS); Gabriella Miller Kids First (Kids First); Harnessing Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa); Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa); Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity in Humans (MoTrPAC); Nutrition for Precision Health, powered by the All of Us Research Program; Transformative Research to Address Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity

Dr. Jason Shockey earned his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he studied the ethylene signal transduction pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. After a post-doctoral fellowship at George Washington University, he joined the NIH in 2007 as an Administrative Lab Manager with the National Eye Institute. In 2019 he was accepted into the NIH Management Intern Program, where he learned several administrative areas including budget, grants management, evaluation, and program management. Dr. Shockey joined the Office of Strategic Coordination as a Program/Management Analyst in 2021.

Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Other Transactions

Programs: Generalist Repository Ecosystem initiative (GREi); Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADX)

Sue Starek joined the Office of the Strategic Coordination (OSC) within the Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM) as an Other Transaction Agreements Specialist in July 2023. Prior to joining NIH, Ms. Starek was a Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Army Contracting Command (ACC) and Missile Defense Agency (MDA). She received her Master of Science in Management (M.S.M) specialized in Acquisition and Contract Management from Florida Institute of Technology.

Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Award Management and Tracking; Other Transactions

Programs: Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS); DPCPSI - Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS)

Jo Villanueva rejoined the Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM) in April 2024. She was formerly a federal senior OT Agreements Specialist and Team Lead before becoming an independent consultant/contractor specializing in OT awards management in 2023. As a federal contractor, Jo has served as policy and compliance advisor for the All of Us Research Program (NIH OD) and is currently working with various OT programs in the Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS), as well as ComPASS for the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) on compliance, monitoring and tracking activities. Her prior experience includes grants administration and project management positions at NIH and other federal agencies, as well as academic, non- and for-profit entities. Jo pursued Business Administration studies at the University of the Philippines prior to coming to the United States; she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Baltimore.

Team: Strategic Planning, Evaluation, and Communications (SPEC)

Functional Area: Communication and Outreach; Program Evaluation and Analysis; Program Strategic Planning; Website Content

Programs: Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI); Common Fund Data Ecosystem(CFDE)

Natalie joined the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) as a Health Science Policy Analyst in August 2023. She brings experience from multiple federal agencies on behavioral and mental health research. Natalie earned her Master of Science degree in Clinical-Counseling Psychology from Radford University in 2013. After graduation she worked as an animal assisted therapy specialist in Northern Virginia before starting federal service. In 2015, she joined the Department of Veterans Affairs as a research coordinator for the VISN 5 Mental Illness Research Education Center (MIRECC). She eventually served as a Research Compliance Officer at the DCVA. In 2019, Natalie transitioned to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) where she studied targeted violence and delivered trainings on behavioral threat assessment.

Team: Transformational Science and Discovery (TSD)

Functional Area: Program Management

Programs: Transformative High Resolution Cryo-Electron Microscopy (CryoEM)

Dr. Mary Ann Wu joined the Office of Strategic Coordination in 2023. Prior to joining the Office, Dr. Wu was in the Division of Biomedical Technology, Biophysics and Computational Biosciences (BBCB) at the National Institute of General Medical Science (NIGMS) where she has managed several technology development and resource programs over time, including the Legacy Resources Program, the Biomedical Technology Research Resources Program, and more recently, the Mature Synchrotron Resources program. While at NIGMS, she served as a coordinator for the Common Fund Transformative High-Resolution Cryoelectron Microscopy Program. Dr. Wu received her Ph.D. The Catholic University of America and her B.S from the University of Wisconsin - Parkside.